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Former Chelsea and Brazil midfielder Oscar retires at 34 after being diagnosed with vasovagal syncope, a heart related condition, following a collapse at Sao Paulo training
Brazil and former Chelsea footballer Oscar.
Former Chelsea and Brazil midfielder Oscar has called time on his football career at the age of 34 owing to a health condition. Oscar was diagnosed with vasovagal syncope — a condition causing a sudden drop in heart rate and blood pressure, which resulted in a severe cardiovascular reaction — last year after he lost consciousness for over two minutes during a training session for São Paulo.
Oscar made over 200 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 38 goals and helping the club win the UEFA Europa League (2013) and the Premier League (2014/15, 2016/17). He also played 48 senior matches for Brazil between 2011 and 2015, scoring 12 goals. He moved to São Paulo on a three-year-long contract, but now, he said he’ll spend his post-retirement life as the club’s fan.
“My heart stopped for about two and a half minutes; it was a shock,” Oscar said via social media on Saturday. “Today I’m better able to talk about it; before, I would get emotional. I took the test, ended up fainting, my blood pressure dropped, and my heart stopped. Then they performed CPR for more than two minutes. I only remember fainting, nothing else.
“Everyone says that when you’re about to die, you leave your body. I had sensations like that. You’re unconscious, you’re in a very good dream. It’s very fast, I could see my son saying: ‘Come back, dad!’ It’s difficult, I wanted to do more for São Paulo. I think I had the footballing ability and the age, I could have endured more. But unfortunately this happened and now I’m going to retire. I’ll continue my life as a fan now.”
What is Vasovagal syncope?
It is the medical term for a common fainting spell. It happens when your body overreacts to specific triggers, such as the sight of blood, extreme emotional stress, sudden pain, or standing for long periods. This reaction overstimulates the vagus nerve, causing your heart rate and blood pressure to drop suddenly. As a result, less blood flows to your brain, causing you to temporarily lose consciousness and pass out.
For many people, it is just a rare, isolated event triggered by a specific situation. However, for others, it can be a chronic, recurring condition. When these fainting spells happen frequently or severely enough to disrupt daily life, doctors treat it as a distinct condition that requires management through trigger avoidance, hydration, dietary changes, or occasionally medication.
April 04, 2026, 11:01 PM IST
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